“The choice is none” AI and the militarization of European research

‘The era of the peace dividend is long gone’, announced the President of the European Commission, (EC), Ursula von der Leyen, in a March 2025 speech to the Royal Danish Military Academy cadets. ‘The age of spheres of influence and power competition is well and truly back’, she continued. ‘Do we keep reacting to each challenge in an incremental and cautious way? Or are we ready to grasp this opportunity to build a more secure Europe? One that is prosperous, free and ready, willing and able to defend itself. (…) The choice is none’ (von der Leyen, 2025, emphasis added). Von der Leyen then underscored the importance of investment targeted at ‘closing [European] capability gaps’ with Russia, the US and China in key areas such as infrastructure, military mobility and advanced defence technologies, with military AI as a prime example. In subsequent speeches, von der Leyen has continued to describe a highly competitive world in which Europe, no longer able to rely on NATO, must rearm or risk being sidelined or, even worse, invaded.